You Don't Give Up On Love
by diamondgilbreath
Summary: Feeling in his broken and already damaged heart that Diamond Gilbreath still loves him and not Ivan Vanko, a furious Tony Stark storms her apartment, confronting the murderous Whiplash himself. Ivan VankoxOCxTony Stark oneshot OOC Ivan Vanko


Ivan looks up from the book he's reading when he hears the lock on the apartment door flip open, raising an eyebrow as he reaches for a bookmark. Diamond isn't planning to be back until tomorrow evening, off to see Hammer's presentation at the Expo. Not that Hammer will have all that much to present, as Ivan had left him without much in the way of working prototypes. It had been a satisfying bit of entertainment while he searched for a more suitable method of getting revenge on Stark. Something more personal, if not as grand in immediate scope.

He doesn't bother to set the book aside, giving every appearance of reading it while he waits for whoever has gotten in - with a spare key, perhaps - to make their purpose known. A thief, he'll just have to take care not to leave blood on the carpet, or to let Diamond's neighbors see him remove the body. If it's someone who Diamond knows, he'll have to take a bit more care.

That it's Tony who comes to stand in the doorway is a surprise, though it shouldn't be. After his stunt with his birthday party that Diamond had complained about, there's little chance Diamond would want him anywhere near the Expo, which leaves him the time to do just what he's done.

"She isn't home right now."

"I know." Tony shrugs. "It's why I came over tonight. What are you doing here?"

Marking his place in the book, Ivan shrugs. "Enjoying her." In more ways than one, but he's intending that Tony take it as a subtle brag about fucking Diamond, and he smirks when Tony glares at him, coming away from the doorway a little before he realizes he's risen to Ivan's bait.

"Why do this? You couldn't be certain I'd ever find out about it. Diamond's pretty good about keeping secrets." Tony steps sideways rather than retreating, moving around until he can lean against Diamond's dresser. "And why Diamond?"

"Met her before. Knew she wouldn't call police." At least not right away, and she hasn't yet. And he suspects she hadn't really told Tony, either.

"When?" Tony seems to have latched onto the first part of Ivan's response. "Where?"

Ivan shrugs again, a small smirk crossing his face. "Moscow. Before prison. Enjoyed it, and so did she." He's enjoying goading Tony, watching the anger build and sometimes flare. Protective of Diamond, and curious about things that aren't really his concern. Not that Ivan has any objection to indulging that curiosity, since doing so will piss Tony off.

"I could call the police right now. Have you arrested and deported."

Ivan shrugs, not actually worried about Tony doing so - or he'd have done that on his way over. This is something more personal, not something to involve the police in.

"Why? I mean, I get you're looking for revenge, but you don't seem the sort to go for this sort of subtle, private revenge over something more spectacular and public. And I don't understand why Diamond would let you use her like that."

"Better this way. I can always do something more public and violent later if I want." Ivan doesn't have any qualms about doing just that, if he gets bored with this sort of revenge. Taking away everything Tony loves, bit by bit, if Tony lives long enough to appreciate it. "How is your chest?"

"Better, actually. Got a little help from someone I know." Tony shrugs without moving away from Diamond's dresser. "Not going to die any time soon, so you don't have to worry I'll skip out on your revenge plans."

That's actually a surprise, since Ivan's well aware there's no known element or alloy that can properly replace palladium in the core of the reactor. Not if it's going to power anything other than Tony, and he doubts Tony would give up being a hero just to survive.

"Good to know," is all he says, though, not letting his surprise show on his face. It'll be interesting to see what Tony's done, if he can manage to get a look. Perhaps even worth postponing plans of revenge.

Silence falls, the two watching each other, neither making it easy to tell what they were thinking. Ivan's perfectly comfortable in letting the silence stretch on into discomfort, but Tony breaks it before it gets nearly that far.

"I'd show you, if I thought I could trust you not to use it against me later." Tony raises an eyebrow, a faint smirk on his own face. Tempting Ivan with the idea, but not enough to just go along with it.

"What would it cost me?" There's always a price to everything - his life for his revenge, his father's freedom for defying Stark - and he's not about to go into this without knowing what Tony would want out of him.

"You leave Diamond alone." Tony holds his gaze easily. "I'll buy you your own place, middle of nowhere, you can do whatever you want, but you leave Diamond alone."

"How would you stop me?" He's perfectly capable and willing to kill to get what he wants, and he's no about to give up what he has here. "Or her?"

"Diamond's never sure you'll be here when she gets home. I thought I'd let her stop worrying about that." By making sure Ivan wasn't here when she got back from the Expo, and wouldn't be back again, ever. "She's not going to go looking for where you went."

"No."

"You could have me." Ivan isn't sure where that's coming from, and he's not sure Tony knows, either, but it's amusing. That Tony would lower himself to selling out himself for his woman... is fascinating.

"Tony Stark, public whore? Not as good." That draws a flicker of amusement, rather than anger, which unsettles him. It's not a predictable response, and it makes his smirk fade into a more impassive expression. "Why did you offer?"

"Because I want you to leave Diamond alone." There's something there that Tony won't admit, and Ivan has little doubt it's jealousy. "I've made that sort of offer for worse reasons. Or no reason at all." Tony shrugs.

Ivan watches Tony for a moment before he echoes the gesture, a wry smile twisting his lips briefly. "I leave when she wants me to leave." It's perhaps giving Tony more of an insight into him than he ought, but that doesn't stop him saying it. It'll amuse him to see what Tony tries to do to convince Diamond that she should make Ivan leave.

"Why?" Tony crosses his arms over his chest, watching Ivan with anger in his expression. "If this is about getting revenge on me, I'm giving you an opportunity to get it directly. Whatever you want to do to me. So long as it doesn't involve you being around Diamond."

"World doesn't revolve around you, Tony." Ivan smirks, though a large part of his being here is revenge. There is, though, more to it, and that part of it he's not going to admit to Tony when he's yet to tell Diamond. If he even has to tell her - he has little doubt she's already figured out that revenge against Tony is one reason for him to be here, and if she's figured that out, there's no reason to assume she hasn't figured out the rest.

Tony watches him with frustration crossing his expression before he moves again, this time coming closer, so he can sit on the far corner of the bed from Ivan, leaning against the foot-board. "How'd you meet her?"

"Bar. Bought her drink, talked. She invited me to her hotel." Not the first night, but he'd seen the looks her friends had shot in his direction when she went back to them, the encouragement they'd given Diamond to talk to him. And later, he had little doubt, to issue the invitation she had made.

"I don't buy it, not Diamond. She's not that kind of person."

"Ask her." Ivan shrugs, unconcerned with what Diamond might tell Tony.

"I'll do that. When she's talking to me again. Apparently she didn't like the last time I asked her anything about you." Tony gave Ivan a long, shrewd look. "Why'd you tell her my arc reactor would kill me?"

"Better she know now than find out when you drop dead." It might have been useful to pick up the pieces when Tony did actually die, but Ivan doubted she would have allowed him to do so. Not if she ever found out he knew Tony would die from the very thing that kept him alive. "Know the pain is coming, prepare for it."

Tony is quiet for a long moment before he nods. "Thanks, I think." As if he's still uncertain of Ivan's motives, and isn't certain if he should be thanking him or telling him that wasn't necessary.

"I did what I needed to do." Ivan shrugs, reaching for his book again. "You have anything else you want to say?"

"What will it take to make you leave Diamond alone?"

"Her death or mine." Ivan looks at Tony over his book, not yet opening it. Watching the surprise cross Tony's face, followed by a frown that deepens with anger when he comes to a conclusion that would fit his preconceptions. "She's not yours, Tony. Let her go."

"No." Tony's voice is flat when he's angry, and he gives Ivan an uncompromising glare. "You don't get to decide she's yours and can't be mine. That's her choice, not yours, Ivan."

"You think she hasn't made one?" Ivan raises an eyebrow, amused at the ease with which he's getting Tony to rise to his bait once more. And more than rise to it, as he has to drop the book to catch Tony's lunge, shifting his weight to roll with the movement, nearly toppling them both to the floor, Tony pinned under Ivan's greater weight.

"Let me up," Tony says a few moments later, when Ivan hasn't moved, glaring up at Ivan. "She's not yours. Maybe she's not mine, but that doesn't make her yours, and I'm not going to believe she's already chosen you over me. Or I wouldn't be here."

Ivan doesn't move for a long moment, before he lets Tony up, settling back against the head-board once more while Tony gets off the bed, and retreats once more to Diamond's dresser. Straightening his clothes with a little too much concentration, and Ivan smirks with amusement. He'll remember that for later, and see what use he can make of it.

Tony looks up after he's arranged his clothes to his liking. "We'll see what Diamond says when she gets home." Giving Ivan a long look before he retreats out the door. Ivan can hear the apartment door open and shut, and the lock click into place behind Tony. It's a clear retreat, before anything more can go wrong for Tony.

At least, for now.


End file.
